SASKATOON, Sask. - After claiming their 13th Canada West title two weeks ago, the University of Saskatchewan Huskie Men's Hockey team now sets their sights on a national title. Entering the 2026 University Cup as the No. 1-seed for the first time since 2000, the Huskies are set to begin their pursuit of a second national championship and first since the program captured their one and only in 1982-83. The Dogs will begin their title bid with a quarterfinal contest against the No. 8-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies, the tournament's host.
2026 U SPORTS University Cup
Thursday, March 19 - Sunday, March 22, 2026
Scotiabank Centre | Halifax, N.S.
Thursday, March 19, 2026 - 4:00 PM (CST) - University Cup Quarterfinal
Saskatchewan Huskies (No. 1-seed, 19-7-2) vs
Saint Mary's Huskies (No. 8-seed, 16-10-4)
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MEDIA GUIDE
Despite being the higher-seeded team in Thursday's quarterfinal, there is no doubt Saskatchewan will be heading into a hostile environment when they take on the Saint Mary's Huskies who are hosting the University Cup for the third time. Luckily Saskatchewan is no stranger to playing on the road.
With a perfect 6-0-0 record in the postseason this year, Saskatchewan has played four of those contests in enemy territory. The first two came in Vancouver where the Dogs swept the UBC Thunderbirds (3-2, 4-1) before going on to do the same to the Mount Royal Cougars (5-0, 4-2) in the Canada West Final in Calgary. It was a trend all season for the now top-seeded Huskies, with the team closing out the regular season with a 10-3-2 road record. Only the UBC Thunderbirds (13-0-2) and TMU Bold (11-3-0) earned better records in U SPORTS men's hockey.
Saskatchewan is also peaking at just the right time and playing their best hockey of the season when it matters most. In six playoff games the Huskies have outscored their opponents 24-7, played in just two one-goal games, and recorded two shutouts—just one fewer than they had all regular season.
Of the many student-athletes playing well this postseason, two rookies have stood out in goaltender
Nolan Maier and forward
Conner Roulette. Maier, a mid-season addition out of the ECHL, has been remarkable, delivering one of the best Canada West playoff performances of all time. Starting all six games, Maier posted two shutouts, a .962 save percentage, a 1.13 goals against average and went over five periods without allowing a goal in the conference finals before being named finals MVP. Making big time saves in critical moments, he also made the front-runner for "save of the year" with a
last-second robbery of UBC's Alex Seraglio to seal a game one semifinal win. Meanwhile Roulette, the 2026 Canada West Rookie of the Year, has been the offensive catalyst for the Dogs so far in the postseason. With 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) the former ECHLer is tied for the most playoff points in the nation with Moncton's Mika Cyr. He has also delivered two postseason game-winning goals, including the conference title-clinching score in game two of the Canada West Finals.
In their quarterfinal opponent, Saskatchewan will take on a well rested Saint Mary's squad with the Huskies last game coming nearly one month piror to Thursday's contest. SMU was swept by the UPEI Panthers in the quarterfinal round of the AUS playoffs. In the regular season, Saint Mary's boasted one of the highest scoring offences in the nation and finished just behind Saskatchewan for 5th in goals for. They were led by the two leading scorers in U SPORTS in Ben Allison (23 goals, 27 assists) and Reid Valade (27 goal, 21 assists). However, at the other end of the ice they allowed the eighth-most goals against and averaged 3.56 allowed per game.
A win Thursday would see Saskatchewan advance to take on the winner of the No. 4-seeded Windsor Lancers and No. 5-seeded Mount Royal Cougars. Windsor (18-7-3) earned the four-seed as the OUA finalist after falling to the UQTR Patriotes 5-4 in overtime of the Queen's Cup, a single-eliminated conference championship game. A matchup with the Lancers would serve as the third all-time meeting between Saskatchewan and Windsor while a meeting with Mount Royal would see the Cougars and Huskies face off for the fifth time in the last nine games.
Fans can tune in to the 2026 University Cup across CBC Sports streaming platforms including
CBC Gem,
CBCSports.ca, and
CBC Sports YouTube, or listen live at
HuskieFAN.ca.
2026 University Cup Seeding
1.
Saskatchewan Huskies (CW Champions)
2. UNB Reds (AUS Champions)
3. UQTR Patriotes (OUA Champions)
4. Windsor Lancers (OUA Finalists)
5. Mount Royal Cougars (CW Finalists)
6. Moncton Aigles Bleus (AUS Finalists)
7. Queen's Gaels (OUA Bronze Medalists)
8. Saint Mary's Huskies (Hosts)
2026 University Cup Schedule
*all time listed in CST
Thursday, March 19, 2026
10am - #4 Windsor vs #5 Mount Royal (Quarterfinal #1)
4pm -
#1 Saskatchewan vs #8 Saint Mary's (Quarterfinal #2)
Friday, March 20, 2026
10am - #6 Moncton vs #3 UQTR (Quarterfinal #3)
4pm - #2 UNB vs #7 Queen's (Quarterfinal #4)
Saturday, March 21, 2026
10am - QF #1 Winner vs QF #2 Winner (Semifinal #1)
4pm - QF #3 Winner vs QF #4 Winner (Semifinal #2)
Sunday, March 22, 2026
6am - SF #1 Loser vs SF #2 Loser (Bronze Medal Game)
10am - SF #1 Winner vs SF #2 Winner (Championship Game)
QUICK NOTES
POSTSEASON PERFECTION: Through six postseason games this season the Huskies are perfect, becoming the first team in Canada West history to go through all three rounds without a loss (No. 1-seeds receive a quarterfinal bye). Saskatchewan defeated the Alberta Golden Bears 2-0 (5-0, 3-2 (OT)) at home in the quarterfinals before downing the UBC Thunderbirds 2-0 (3-2, 4-1) on the road in the semi's and the Mount Royal Cougars 2-0 (5-0, 4-2) on the road in the finals.
DOUBLED DOWN: With their 13th Canada West title, the 2025-26 edition of the Huskies become the first team to go back-to-back since 1998-99 and the 1999-00 teams did so.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Huskies were one of the best road teams in the nation this season, posting a 10-3-2 record. Only the UBC Thunderbirds (13-0-2) and TMU Bold (11-3-0) posted better records away from their home rinks. In the postseason, Saskatchewan was perfect on the road picking up four wins with series sweeps in the Canada West Semifinals and conference Final.
AMONG THE BEST IN THE BIZ: Since the first U SPORTS Top-10 ranking of the season on October 7, 2025, Saskatchewan has been featured in every edition of the top teams in the nation. The Huskies never fellow below No. 7 and were ranked as high as No. 3 (Oct. 14-Nov. 3, Jan. 12, & Jan. 26). They closed out the regular season ranked No. 5 in the final edition of the Top-10.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: In the 2025-26 postseason, the Huskies have been led by a pair of standout rookies in forward
Conner Roulette and goaltender
Nolan Maier. Roulette, who was named the Canada West Rookie of the Year, has led all Canada West playoff scorers with 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) which include three power play points and two game-winning goals. Meanwhile mid-season addition
Nolan Maier has been the MVP of the Huskies' playoff run thus far, posting a 1.13 GAA and 0.962 save percentage while recording two shutouts and six wins.
CAN THEY END THE DROUGHT?: The 2025-26 edition of the Huskie Men's Hockey team is looking to do something only one other team has in program history—bring home a national title. It has been 43 years since Saskatchewan last captured the University Cup, with the one and only national championship coming in the 1982-83 season. Since then, the Huskies have appeared in the championship game four times, falling to the UNB Reds, UQTR Patriotes, and Alberta Golden Bears twice.
HUSKIES AT THE U-CUP: This will mark the Saskatchewan's 23rd appearance at the University Cup, with the Huskies owning a 25-29 record all-time in tournament games.
U-CUP TOP DOGS ONCE AGAIN: For just third time in their now 23 appearances, the Huskies enter the University Cup as the top-ranked team. Saskatchewan previously held the No. 1-seed in the 2000 and 1998 editions of the national championship tournament.
HUSKIES VERSUS HUSKIES AT THE U-CUP: When Saskatchewan and Saint Mary's face off in the quarterfinals, it will mark just the third meeting between the two programs. In the first ever meeting, SMU took a pool play matchup 3-1 in the 2002 tournament in Kitchener, Ontario. More recently in 2015-16, Saskatchewan dropped a bronze medal contest 5-2 in a tournament which saw the Huskies play seven periods of overtime hockey.
